For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 23, 2017, we will discuss the following:

Viacom International Inc. v. IJR Capital Investments, LLC (S.D.Texas Jan. 11, 2017) (available here). IJR filed a trademark application for THE KRUSTY KRAB for restaurant services. Viacom then sent a cease and desist letter asking IJR to refrain from using the trademark as it was a trademark associated with Viacom’s Spongebob Squarepants show. On a motion for summary judgment, the court found that IJR’s KRUSTY KRAB infringed Viacom’s trademark of the same name for restaurant services.

Slep-tone Entertainment, et.al. v. Wired for Sound Karoake and DJ Services, LLC, et. al. (9th Cir. Jan. 18, 2017) (available here). Plaintiff Slep-tone produces karoake music tracks on CDs in a specialized format. Defendant Wired for Sound Karoake operates a karoake store. Defendant’s store played karoake music tracks that included plaintiff’s trademarks. Plaintiff sued for trademark infringement. The 9th Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the trademark infringement claim finding that there couldn’t be any likelihood of confusion.

All are invited to join us on Monday, January 23, 2017, at noon in our Westlake Village office. This activity is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Elisha Manzur by 9 am Monday morning.